A New Life
by The Evil Mermaid Rose
Summary: Draco has a profetic dream, something is about to happen and he must be there to make the final decision. All this pressure is causing him to actu quite differently, like beginning a secret friendship with none other than Virginia Weasley.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No I do not own Harry Potter, I wish I did, but he, and everything else, belong to the brilliant JK Rowling.

A New Life?

Chapter 1: The Dream

A teenage Boy was standing in the middle of a bright, white room. Although it was impossible to tell if it really was a room, the walls, floor and ceiling seemed to go on forever.

A foggy shape appeared on the horizon, a moment later the figure was getting closer and also becoming clearer, it was almost like looking in a foe glass. It was a man, and he was wearing wizard's robes, the boy reached for his wand only to find is wasn't there, he started twisting and turning trying to find it and when he couldn't: 

"What! insert long line of curses here Where the hell could it be!" he yelled.

"Please refrain from using such vulgar language, at least in my presence, Mr. Malfoy." A voice behind him sighed. The boy turned around and his mouth dropped open.

"P-professor Dumbledore? W-what are you doing here?" a startled Draco Malfoy stuttered, his mouth still hanging open and his eyes now bulging. 

"I'm not really Professor Dumbledore, just a just a product of your subconscious."

"My subconscious? Does that mean that this is all a dream?" 

"Yes, this is nothing but a dream. But you still have to listen to what I say."

Draco just stood there staring so 'Dumbledore' took this as a sign to continue, "I have a warning to give you, and it concerns your future, and some decisions you will have to make."

"A warning? What warning?"

"The one I'll give you if you ever stay quiet enough to listen."

"I'm quiet now, will you get on with it."

"You would be wise to realize that I don't have to do what you say. I can take as long as I want or need to give you this necessary information."

"I don't have to put up with this; I could always wake-up." 

"No, you can't. It's physically impossible to wake-up, or do anything of the sort, for that matter, until I allow it. And I suggest you quiet done now so we can get this over with." The fake Dumbledore was starting to get uncharacteristically aggravated.

"Fine then, if I must." He sighed.

"As you know, you are beginning your fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some drastic changes are about to take place, and some already have, the outcome of these changes lies on your shoulders. You will have to make some very difficult decisions. Choose goodness and you will be regarded as a hero, but choose evil and darkness will once again reign,"

"No pressure, huh?" he muttered, "Well what's the question then? I might as well hear it now and get it over with." 

"I cannot tell you that, it won't be said aloud by anyone. You will figure out what it is by yourself soon enough. You will have to, I don't think I need to express how crucial this situation is. Don't forget, the fate of the world rests on your shoulders."Dumbledore said as his voice began to fade, as was the rest of the dream-world.

"No! no, don't go!" he screamed, but it was useless, 'Dumbledore' was gone.

"Sir. Sir! Wake-up sir, please wake-up!" pleaded a high, squeaky voice from above his head.

"Wha-what's going on, where am I? Where's Dumbledore?" 

"You was screaming sir, 'come back' over and over, sir! Tebby was just cleaning your fireplace when she heard you, you was so distressed that she had to wake you sir. Please don't hit Tebby sir, she thought she was helping you." The small house elf was close to tears clutching at her filthy towel.

"I'm not going to hit you, but will you please get off of me?" he waited as the house elf scrambled to do his bidding, and stumbled to the door, "and thank-you for waking me up, what a nightmare."

"Oh, you's very welcome sir, very welcome indeed." She answered, her surprise crystal clear.

Why the hell did I, Draco Malfoy, just thank a house elf? he thought, more confused than he could ever remember being.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I do not own Harry Potter, I wish I did, but he, and everything else, belong to the brilliant JK Rowling.

Chapter 2: A Rocky Road

"Mum! Where's my new jumper!" a petit red head yelled down the stairs, "I just had it last week!"

"What jumper is that dear?" Her mother shouted back.

"The pink one with the zipper and the big pocket. It has those fuzzy pompoms on the hood…"

"Oh, that old thing? I took it to wash; it's probably down here with the rest of the laundry."

Ginny sighed; she could never find anything in this house. She was trying to pack her trunk for school and nothing was ever where it was supposed to be. She started to run down the stairs and finished her descent in a head over heals tumble with a huge crash at the bottom.

"Fred! George! I'm going to _murder_ you both!" She yelled at her older brothers as she pulled a rubber wand out from under her.

"What!" George poked his head into the hall.

"What we do this time?" His twin Fred shouted from in their room as George broke into a huge grin.

"I tripped over one your stupid toys."

"Our toys aren't stupid, and their not toys." Said Fred defensively, "What did she do to our stuff George?"

"Just come look at her for yourself, Fred. Gin, you're getting to be as awkward as Ronnykins here." He said pointing to Ron, who'd come out to see what all the ruckus was.

"Hey!" Ron yelled, "I heard what you said about me…"

Idiots! All three of them! Ginny thought as the three boys started arguing amongst themselves. She stood up, rubbing her backside and holding her head. Life was never boring at The Burrow for very long.

The screeching sound of a train whistle pierced the morning air, the five minute warning. Draco bid farewell to his friends and began his leisurely stroll to the front of the train. All prefects were expected to either patrol the cars during the long ride to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or spend it with all the other prefects in the front car.

His mother was so proud when his school letter arrived; his father just liked the fact that his son was gaining more power, not just in Slytherin, but in the whole school. Really, Draco could care less about making prefect, he had other things on his mind. Even two months later, that strange dream hung with foreboding in the back of his mind. It shouldn't bother him this much, after all, it was just a dream, but it still nagged at him late at night when he couldn't sleep. He shook his head to clear it and concentrated on the job he had, prefect, he was now a prefect. That _Potter_ better not have made prefect too, if I have to spend any extra time with him… he thought menacingly.

One more whistle and the train slowly started to move, it pulled away from King's Cross station and all the waving parents and younger siblings left standing there. His parents weren't there of course; they'd sent Tebby to carry his luggage and see him off. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were too busy to care for the day to day needs of their offspring.

A clamoring of noise came from the hallway as the compartment door slid open. Great, the _Mighty Gryffindors_ have arrived he looked at his watch late, it figures . A girl with bushy brown hair and a big smile entered first. No surprise there, top of her class, headmaster's pet, of course Hermione Granger made prefect, following her into the compartment was Longbottom! Gryffindor's male prefect how on Earth Neville Longbottom made prefect was beyond him. My, my, this _is_ going to be an interesting year thought Draco.

Ginny dragged her trunk down the narrow corridor while people bustled past her on their way to find their friends. All Ginny wanted was a quiet compartment where she could rest and collect her thoughts. She'd been walking for what felt like all day, her father's car having broken down three kilometers from the train station. The Weasley's had all piled out of the car and lugged their school trunks behind them the three k. to King's Cross. They'd made it with only two minutes to spare. Ginny reached the end of the road, or train, and she hadn't found a compartment with room to spare. At least the last one didn't sound as noisy as the rest. She looked inside; "At last!" she let out a sigh and hulled her trunk up into the bin above the seat. She flopped down onto the empty seat and pulled her cloak tightly around her before falling into a fitful sleep.

Back up at the front of the train Draco was beginning to feel cramped and suffocated. They were in one of the larger compartments, but with eight people in there, it was still a tight squeeze. He had slowly been making his way to the door for the past half hour, but Pansy Parkinson, the other Slytherin prefect, was clinging to him like a wet blanket.

"Pansy, let go of me!" He finally hissed at her.

"But Draco, Baby, why? You wouldn't leave me alone with these losers, would you? Traitors and mudbloods the lot of them," she pouted.

"Pansy, if you don't let go of my arm in two seconds, I'll be forced to remove it myself!" he said in such a threatening tone that she dropped his arm like a burning coal, and backed away. Draco Malfoy was not someone to be messed with, even if you were dating him.

After removing his would be girlfriend he slipped silently out into the corridor. I need to find somewhere where I can think he thought as he began the long journey down the train.

"Ahhh, an empty compartment," he said to himself as he stretched out across a bench, using his cloak as a pillow. He'd traveled the length of the train, passing clumps of nervous first years, a gaggle of giggling third year Hufflepuffs, the lunch-cart and numerous games of exploding snap, he'd yet to find a quiet place. He'd finally found a seat that was mostly clear, except for a pile of discarded clothes, hopefully the owner wouldn't return and disturb him until the end of the ride.

At last, a moment of peace. Draco yawned, how long will it take for those moron prefects to realize that I'm not there anymore. Not very, if that simpering Pansy has anything to say. He pulled his cloak from behind his head and covered himself up with it, it wasn't much of a disguise, but Pansy never was the brightest. The cloak trick would buy him at least an hour to himself.

The swaying of the train slowly rocked him to sleep as his thoughts tumbled around inside his head. The last thing he could remember thinking about was a room filled with light but then the darkness enfolded him and once again took over.

_THUMP-THUMP-KATHUMP…CRASH!_

"Ouch! What the Hell?"

"OW! What's going on? Who's in here?"

"Gerroff me! Get the Hell off of me you clumsy idiot!"

"I'm not on top of you! _You're_ on top of _me_, you – you … dimwit!"

It was storming outside and the train had started to shake violently, causing some passengers to fall from their seats. Ginny had rolled off of her makeshift bed and landed on something soft and squirming. It took the better part of five minutes for her to wakeup and realize what was going on. Draco, on the other hand, had come to complete wakefulness when she'd fallen on top of him, although he still didn't know how he ended up on the floor. He rolled over to try to free himself, all it did though was succeed in tangling them up further, but at least he was on top of whatever had knocked the wind out of him.

The train stopped shaking and came to a shuddering stop. Ginny and Draco stopped struggling long enough to disentangle themselves from each other. Before they had the chance to see who else had taken shelter with them, the lights shut off. Thrown into sudden darkness, the two fumbled their way back onto the seats.

"What do you think you're doing." Draco yelled.

"I'm sitting down, what does it look like I'm doing?" Ginny quipped back.

"I'd tell you what it looked like if I could _bloody see anything!_" Draco raged.

"Would you stop yelling at me! And stopped sitting on me, there are three other seats in this compartment! What are you…two years old. _Boys_! You act all macho, but really you're just a lot of prats! Idiots, the lot of you! You know, you're worse than my baby cousin." Ginny ranted

"Well you took my seat…" Draco whined.

"Fine, whatever. Do what you want. Here's your seat back, I'm getting out of here." She stood up and reached for the handle and pulled, but the door wouldn't move.

"Fine, go then," Draco said venomously, "well, what are you waiting for?"

"It's the door, it won't move," Ginny cried, "looks like we're stuck in here."

She rattled the door one more time, but it was no use, it remained shut tight.

"Great, just bloody great! What are we going to do now?"

"Well, you could stop yelling for one thing." Ginny reprimanded, "If we have to be trapped in here together, could you at least _try _to be civil…"

"Ok, fine, what ever." He said, folded his arms and slumped into his chair.

Thirty minutes past in complete silence, the train still wasn't moving, Draco was pacing the length of the car, back and forth, back and forth.

"Are you OK?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"What? I'm fine…fine," Draco answered distractedly.

"Alright, you just seem a little…"

"What! I seem a little what? Angry, scared, nervous! What do you think I am…out with it!"

"Preoccupied, you just seam a little preoccupied. Just calm down, is there something you want to talk about? – "

"No, nothing, there's nothing wrong with me."

"I never said there was anything wrong with you; I don't even know who you are!" Ginny yelled exasperatedly.

"Good, let's keep it that way!" Draco yelled back. He resumed his pacing just as the train shuttered and began moving again. He fell onto Ginny this time, and she burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing, what do you find so bloody funny about this situation?"

"I don't know…it's just…we keep falling over each other…"she said in between laughing gasps.

"You are crazy, absolutely and completely nutters!" said Draco, throwing his arms into the air. He started to stand up again.

"No wait, I'm sorry," she said, "Just stay here for a minute, you're stressed, I know something that can help." She pulled him down so that his head was resting in her lap.

"Wha-what are you doing?"

"Shh, just relax." She said as she began to rub his temples, "Just relax and try to forget about whatever's bothering you."

Two hours later, the train was pulling in to Hogsmeade station. The lights suddenly came back on as the train shuddered to one final stop.

"Weasley!" Draco said as he sat up in surprise.

"Malfoy!" Ginny gagged.

"_That was you!"_ They yelled in unison.

"This can't be happening." Draco said as all his problems came flooding back. Once he'd been able to relax, he'd started to let go all of the tension, started to let go of the immense weight resting on his shoulders, and then something amazing had happened. He'd been drawn into a waking dream. A peaceful, starlit field had materialized where he'd been able to forget about the world and let himself feel free. He'd wandered around in the dreamscape, so different from any other he'd been in, for what seemed like hours. He'd found a single tree, all alone on the vast plain of emptiness, just like he was. He'd lain beneath that tree forever, until he was violently jolted out of his calm by the train whistle.

"OK, let's talk about this rationally. No one can find out how we spent the train ride. If Ron hears about it, he'll totally flip."

"So you're worried about me now?"

"No…it's not that, it's just that – that, well this train ride was so relaxing."

"I'd say it was more a rocky road…"

"Like the ice cream?" Ginny giggled.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Um, OK, whatever." Draco started to gather his belongings. "You know what, I actually had a good time with you."

"You know what, me too." Replied Ginny as she finally pulled the door open, "Hey, if you wanna know what real Rocky Road is, meet me in the Kitchen on Saturday night, and I'll show you."

"As long as you teach me how to do whatever it was that you did here tonight."

"It's a deal." She said as she walked away.

Wow. This really has been an interesting train ride. 

Ok, that was a really long chapter for me, but don't expect all of them to be that long. So what do you think about **D**raco and Ginny? Any chemistry there, or are they just going to be friends? I guess you'll have to wait to find out.


End file.
